Who to see at ACL Fest, according to the experts

Austin City Limits Music Festival is a lot like a buffet, except without the sneeze guards, and exciting music instead of casseroles. Don't know which artists to sample? Our critics have decades of combined experience at the fest — here's what they're tasting Oct. 7-9 and 14-16 at Zilker Park. Find the full lineup at aclfestival.com.

What to see Friday at ACL Fest

ERIC WEBB'S PICKS

2:30 p.m. Kevin Morby (Honda) and Wet Leg (Honda): On Weekend 1, get strummy with millennial indie-folk standout Morby, born in Lubbock and now based in Kansas City with his partner, Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee. (Listen to their duet on “Farewell Transmission.”) Then the second weekend, go see Wet Leg, a U.K. indie-rock duo whose buzz this year seemed immaculately conceived but who do channel an undeniable mid-2000s college radio magic.

3:15 p.m. Gabriels (Barton Springs): It’s tough to open for the biggest male pop star in the world, but L.A.-based group Gabriels made a heavenly impression opening Harry Styles’ Austin dates this fall. Gospel singer Jacob Lusk must be hiding some wings inside that sharp tux jacket.

4:15 p.m. Jazmine Sullivan (Honda): You probably know the revenge torch song “Bust Your Windows,” but Sullivan is an R&B artist’s R&B artist. Beyoncé, Chaka Khan and Mary J. Blige are all fans.

5 p.m. L’Imperatrice (Barton Springs): It’s late in the day. You need to chill. Transport yourself to the Riviera with the low-key disco clouds drifting from this French band’s set.

7 p.m. Carly Rae Jepsen (Barton Springs) and Omar Apollo (Miller Lite): Oh, we will be cutting to the feeling! Jepsen is pop music’s perennial vice president, the under-promoted queen of a diehard fanbase for whom “Run Away With Me” is a life-altering expression of joy. Unfortunately, she’s only playing Weekend 1; fortunately, Apollo will still be around Weekend 2 for all your sexy, queer soul music needs.

8 p.m. The Chicks (American Express): This being Texas, and this being a particularly fraught moment for human rights and free speech, and this band being the absurdly talented women who defined a generation with songs like “Wide Open Spaces,” the choice feels clear to me. Honorable mention to SZA, whose “Ctrl” is an all-time great album and who is more than worthy of your headliner time.

For subscribers:The ultimate list of Austin live music for the rest of 2022

DEBORAH SENGUPTA STITH'S PICKS

1:30 p.m. Thebrosfresh (Tito’s Handmade Vodka): The real-life brothers from Austin via Baton Rouge play hooky soul pop jams elevated by tight harmonies and have a feel-good vibe that will set your fest off right.

2:30 p.m. Noah Cyrus (American Express): The youngest Cyrus shares her older sister’s depth of tone, but while Miley rasps, Noah’s voice is plaintive and clear. Her debut album, “The Hardest Part,” begins with a reckoning on her Xanax addiction and unfolds as an authentic examination of a heart trying to heal.

SXSW 2018:Noah Cyrus on the perils of growing up in the public eye

3:15 p.m. Gabriels (Barton Springs): Gospel singer, choir director and Harry Styles opener Jacob Lusk pours his baptismal power into songs of love, loss and yearning.

4:15 p.m. Jazmine Sullivan (Honda): Oh Jazmine, where were you during my drunken bad decision-making phase? “Heaux Tales,” her brilliant meditation on female sexuality, should be essential listening for all club-going ladies.

5 p.m. Arlo Parks (Miller Lite): She’s like your best friend, your best friend who writes incisive poetry made more potent by the lilting melodies that deliver it to your ears.

6 p.m. James Blake (Honda): A master of ominous atmosphere with the soul of a tortured forest nymph, Blake drapes his electronic soundscapes with distinctly British gloom.

7 p.m. Omar Apollo (Miller Lite): Wrap yourself in the plush falsetto choruses that float over Apollo’s confessional verses and revel in lyrical pictures that will feel familiar to anyone who has loved and lost.

8 p.m. SZA (Honda): During SXSW 2014, an unknown singer hopped on a TDE set and, overwhelmed with gratitude, confessed to the Fader Fort crowd that a year earlier she was sleeping in her car. Ah, to go back in time and tell the ascendant queen of hazy R&B that one day, “All the Stars” would shine with her on the biggest stage in the city.

PETER BLACKSTOCK'S PICKS

1 p.m. Asleep at the Wheel (Honda): From 2002 to 2019, Austin’s western swing kings were the only act to play every ACL Fest. Then COVID happened, and last year a three-hour weather delay knocked out their set. Come see them start a new streak! (Weekend 1 only)

4 p.m. Zach Bryan (American Express): The 26-year-old country singer-songwriter finished eight years of Navy service in 2021 and released his Warner Records debut “American Heartbreak” this year. A local tip: The album’s first single is titled “From Austin.” (Weekend 1 only)

6 p.m. Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats (American Express): The soulful Colorado singer and his band are a high-energy combo steeped in traditional American music forms. Catch them both weekends, or at Thursday’s “Austin City Limits” taping at ACL Live.

7 p.m. Billy Strings (T-Mobile): What a year the Michigan bluegrass boundary-breaker has had: He won best bluegrass album at the Grammys and artist of the year at the Americana Music Awards, and he’s nominated for six International Bluegrass Music Awards. Few artists in traditional American music genres have had a more impressive rise than Strings, who turns 30 this week.

8 p.m. The Chicks (American Express): It’s a family affair: Not only are Chicks co-founders Emily Strayer and Martie Maguire sisters, but singer Natalie Maines has brought son Slade Pasdar aboard as a guitarist with the touring band, and father Lloyd Maines will sit in for the Austin shows. There’s new material from last year’s “Gaslighter” album, but expect to hear old favorites like “Wide Open Spaces” and “Goodbye Earl” as well.

Related:Our interview with Lloyd Maines about his new solo album

What to see Saturday at ACL Fest

ERIC WEBB'S PICKS

1:30 p.m. Slayyyter (Miller Lite): Imagine you're cruising through a modem in a candy-coated convertible with Kim Petras in the passenger seat and Charli XCX running the aux cord.

2 p.m. Cimafunk (Tito’s Handmade Vodka): This Cuban prophet of funk and hip-hop is no stranger to Austin, and it’s fabulous news for fest-goers that his Spanish-language turn-up is coming to Zilker Park. Don’t bother if you don’t want to move even a little.

2:15 p.m. The Midnight (American Express): The Midnight, aka Tyler Lyle and Tim McEwan, make the kind of shimmery synthwave that sounds like night breezes in your face and neon lights streaking past your head.

3:15 p.m. Sloppy Jane (BMI): Trust me. TRUST ME. Even if the chamber-rock band’s music isn’t your speed (I think it’s splendid), the spectacle that is Sloppy Jane must be witnessed, if only so that you can tell your grandkids. Weekend 2 only.

4:15 p.m. Conan Gray (Honda): The crown prince of Gen-Z pop is not only a gigantic talent ripe for superstardom – earnest, energetic songs like “Telepath,” “Overdrive” and “Maniac” punch in the same class as fellow ACL Fest pop act Carly Rae Jepsen – but he’s from Georgetown, too. Grey makes a schedule hop for Weekend 2, to 4 p.m. Friday on the American Express stage.

5:15 p.m. Aly & AJ (BMI): Be not fooled by the child-star pedigree of sisters Aly & AJ. They make grown-up dance music that kisses you from the shadows (give “Church” a spin). Their 2021 album “A Touch of the Beat…” is sunnier, but still concerned with real matters of the heart; “Listen!!!” is a standout. Weekend 1 only.

6:15 p.m. Lil Nas X (American Express) and Death Cab for Cutie (Honda): I just love to see Lil Nas X succeed. Bringing queer Black excellence to a plum slot at ACL Fest, the meme-genius star behind monsters like “That’s What I Want” and “Industry Baby” is poised to join Lizzo, Lorde and Jack Harlow as ACL Fest acts whose sets felt like headliner moments even if they weren’t top-billed. If you’re at the fest on Weekend 2 only, you might not share my hyper-specific taste here, but 2000s emo kings Death Cab for Cutie are where I’ll be, feeling everything I’ve ever felt all at once to “A Movie Script Ending.”

7:15 p.m. The War on Drugs (T-Mobile): Chill guitar rock is not always the best fit for ACL Fest, which is an endurance race, but I’d be remiss not to recommend the band behind “I Don’t Live Here Anymore,” one of the best albums of 2021. Just astral project into an intimate club.

8:30 p.m. P!nk (American Express): Is the artist aka Alecia Moore a pop auteur of the highest order, raising the sonic and lyrical game behind the music that gets our lizard brains going? Absolutely not, but a catalog that often embraces the lowest common denominator is acceptable when you’re a gravity-defying performer like her. (Plus: You know the songs. I do. C’mon.)

DEBORAH SENGUPTA STITH'S PICKS

Noon. Mama Duke (Barton Springs): She kicks down barriers with her “Ballsy” rap style, digs into her feelings with melodic trap hooks and brings the Saturday swagger you need.

12:45 p.m. The Future X (Honda): The crew power is strong in this seven-piece, TikTok-engineered trend machine as they make glossy pop singalongs embellished with impeccable choreography.

1:30 p.m. Lido Pimienta (Barton Springs): The Colombian Canadian artist weaves indigenous rhythms, melodies and chants with modern electronics to create intricate sound beds that spotlight her spell-binding voice.

2:15 p.m. Adrian Quesada’s Boleros Psicodélicos (Honda): Black Pumas made the Austin guitarist and producer an international star, but his range and depth is no secret to Austin fans who have known him since the Grupo Fantasma days. His tribute to Latin America’s golden era of psychedelic ballads is simply sublime. Worth noting: Putting Quesada up against Cuban dynamo Cimafunk (2 p.m. Tito’s Handmade Vodka) is one of the cruelest moves from this year’s ACL schedule gods.

4:15 p.m. Conan Gray (Honda): Are you curious about how a 23-year-old Georgetown resident became a sudden pop superstar? I am.

5:15 p.m. Sofi Tukker (Miller Lite): Can’t go wrong with sultry R&B singer Sabrina Claudio (Barton Springs), but let’s take this party up a notch with the house duo’s slinky dance grooves. Come for the “Summer in New York” singalong. Stay to dance away your sins with the searing slow burner “Forgive Me.”

6:15 p.m. Lil Nas X (American Express): The setlist for Montero Lamar Hill’s tour performances is a glorious chronicle of self-discovery broken into three acts. Not sure what makes the cut for a festival set, but if you’re bringing your kids to see “Old Town Road” be prepared for a conversation about angels, devils and the power of queer love.

7:15 p.m. Tobe Nwigwe (Barton Springs): In these dark times, we are delivered a beacon of hope from Houston. Nwigwe’s latest, “moMINTS,” is a truly astonishing opus that packs the righteous rage of a prophet, the luscious four-part harmonies of the dirty South and revelatory rhymes. Making music a family affair, his ensemble includes his wife, rapper Fat Nwigwe, and his sister, producer Nell Nwigwe.

8:30 p.m. P!nk (American Express): The last time she was in Austin, Alecia Beth Moore danced, belted and soared above the crowd while performing astonishing acts of aerial artistry. Will the “Irrelevant” pop star who went to war with Twitter when Roe fell also use her platform to speak out about abortion rights in Texas this time? Likely.

PETER BLACKSTOCK'S PICKS

11:30 a.m. Barton Hills Choir (Austin Kiddie Limits): The AKL stage for kids is back this year, and so is the BHC, an elementary school choir that has been a festival favorite for more than a decade. Ringleader Gavin Tabone has taught the kids songs from the catalogs of the Monkees, Queen, the Go-Go’s, Culture Club and more for this year’s set.

12:45 p.m. Ventures (American Express): All four members of this influential instrumental band’s classic 1960s lineup are gone now, but their spirit lives on with longtime “fifth Venture” Bob Spalding and his son Ian Spalding, plus drummer Leon Taylor and bassist/guitarist Luke Griffin. “Walk,’ Don’t Run” to the American Express stage for their early afternoon set. (Weekend 1 only)

2:15 p.m. Adrian Quesada (Honda): While top-drawing Austin act Black Pumas takes a break, guitarist/producer Quesada steps into the spotlight for a show focused on his fascinating 2022 album “Boleros Psicodélicos,” a deep dive into Latin American balada music.

More:Our 2022 interview with Adrian Quesada

4:15 p.m. Boy George & Culture Club (Honda): Boy George never used to get top billing, but not many folks can name another member of Culture Club, so we’ll cut him some slack. The band’s gender-bending style and new-wave sound was big in the 1980s, and hits such as “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” and “Karma Chameleon” have stood the test of time. (Weekend 2 only)

6:15 p.m. Death Cab for Cutie (Honda): Rising from the shadow of grunge in the Pacific Northwest at the turn of the century, Death Cab helped push indie and emo music to new heights in the 2000s. Expect a mix of classics from smash albums such as “Plans” and “Narrow Stars” plus new material from last month’s “Asphalt Meadows.” (Weekend 2 only)

7:15 p.m. The War on Drugs (T-Mobile): Adam Granduciel and Kurt Vile’s psych-indie-folk-rock outfit from Philadelphia survived Vile’s 2009 departure for a prolific solo career, breaking through with 2014’s “Lost in the Dream” and winning a Grammy for 2017’s “A Deeper Understanding.” Their latest, “I Don’t Live Here Anymore,” came out last year.

What to see Sunday at ACL Fest

ERIC WEBB'S PICKS

11:45 a.m. Pleasure Venom (Barton Springs): Spend some time with this standout local punk band and just, like, scream. Weekend 2 only.

1:15 p.m. Jake Wesley Rogers (Miller Lite): Singer-songwriter (and natty dresser) Rogers is like Elton John reincarnated a little too early without waiting to die first. “Middle of Love” is a piano-driven earworm that sounds like a frolic looks.

2 p.m. Yungblud (American Express): The last time we saw the Artful Dodger of mall punk at ACL Fest, it was 2018 and his leg was in a cast. I wrote: “Full Pied Piper, hopping around the stage on one foot while eyes and waving arms followed his every hobble.” Weekend 2 only.

3 p.m. MUNA (Barton Springs): Simply my favorite band of the moment. Capable of searing feeling, like “Pink Light,” and lose-yourself electricity, like “What I Want.” I wrote of their SXSW 2022 set: “This is the grand tradition of crying in the club, but with explicitly queer lyrics that invite that community to see themselves in lyrics about infatuation and toxic relationships, no mental gymnastics necessary.” Isaac Dunbar on the BMI stage is also a great option. Weekend 1 only.

4 p.m. Magdalena Bay (Tito’s Handmade Vodka): An indie-pop band with roots in Miami and vibes from another dimension. Sort of transporting in a Purity Ring way, ethereal in an early Grimes way but hook-forward in an experimental, "could be friends with Charli XCX" way. Anyway, see 'em.

5 p.m. Japanese Breakfast (T-Mobile): At this point, Michelle Zauner and company could credibly claim Austin residency. Fizzy pop-rock like “Be Sweet” reliably makes your day better.

6 p.m. Paramore (American Express): Out of every ACL Fest artist, they are who I’m most excited for. This will be part pop-punk nostalgia ceremony, part rock revival. Hayley Williams, voice like a neutron bomb, is one of the most dynamic live performers of this or any generation.

7 p.m. Marcus Mumford (T-Mobile): Even if you weren’t a fan of Mumford and Sons at peak folk-pop, their leader’s vulnerable new solo material is worth attention.

DEBORAH SENGUPTA STITH'S PICKS

11:45 a.m. Danielle Ponder (T-Mobile): The preacher’s daughter and former public defender wields her powerful voice on hip-hop laced soul selections that cut straight to the heart.

12:45 p.m. Primo the Alien (Tito’s Handmade Vodka): The prolific Austin singer-songwriter’s velvet voice soars over slick and stylish synthwave grooves.

2 p.m. Larry June (Honda): The Bay Area rapper who earned tens of millions of streaming spins with a song about smoothies aims to uplift his people with insightful tales of a healthier hustle.

3 p.m. Pink Pantheress (T-Mobile) Candy coated bedroom pop from a TikTok sensation who’s about to be a massive star.

5 p.m. The Marias (Barton Springs): Enjoy a bilingual synth pop interlude as you escape the heat of the day under the shade trees that form the far edge of this stage area.

6 p.m. Robert Glasper (Tito’s Handmade Vodka): If your festival won’t be complete without some truly mind-boggling musical mastery, the jazz titan from Houston is here to oblige.

8:15 p.m. Kacey Musgraves (Honda): With all the agro-bro energy directed toward the other end of the park, here’s a kinder, gentler way to finish your fest.

PETER BLACKSTOCK'S PICKS

11:45 a.m. Danielle Ponder (T-Mobile): The upstate New York attorney-turned-singer-songwriter served notice at Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion in March that she’s a major new talent in American music. Her debut album “Some of Us Are Brave” came out last month; arrive early on Sunday so you can say you saw her on the way up.

1:15 p.m. Jake Wesley Rogers (Miller Lite): A 25-year-old graduate of Nashville’s music-centric Belmont University, Rogers signed to Warner Records for last year’s acclaimed “Pluto” after a couple of attention-getting indie releases. He’s got big pop songs that put his powerhouse voice up-front.

2:45 p.m. Wilderado (Tito’s Handmade Vodka): We first caught this Los Angeles-via-Tulsa indie-folk/pop outfit in 2017 at Bass Concert Hall opening for Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie’s duo tour. After a handful of EPs and singles, they finally released their self-titled full-length debut last year. (Weekend 2 only)

4 p.m. Spoon (Honda): It’s been a big year for Austin’s biggest indie band, who released the widely acclaimed “Lucifer on the Sofa” in February. Their shows on both weekends at Zilker Park are part of a hometown blitzkrieg that includes an Austin Parks Foundation fundraiser on Oct. 14, an official ACL Fest Nights show at ACL Live on Oct. 14, and an “Austin City Limits” TV taping on Oct. 19.

More:Our 2022 interview with Spoon's Britt Daniel

7 p.m. Marcus Mumford (T-Mobile): The leader of chart-topping English folk-rock band Mumford & Sons, an ACL Fest headliner in 2016 and 2019, is getting a lot of attention for a self-titled solo album that came out last month. Sadly, the only guy he could get to direct the video for the album’s first single was some guy named Steven Spielberg. Poor Marcus.

8:15 p.m. Kacey Musgraves (Honda): All four of the native Texan and former Austinite’s albums (not counting a 2016 Christmas record) have topped Billboard’s country charts and reached the top 5 of the pop charts. ACL Fest has had too few female headliners over the years; Musgraves was an easy call to help turn that around in 2022.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Who to see at ACL Fest in Austin, day by day on the lineup